Operation Fresh Start: A Jessie x Cloud adventure
by skmt999
Summary: This is a 'what if' scenerio, assuming that Jessie survived the game. Set after FFVII, but before FFVII:AC. Long setup, lots of angst. And some eventual 'Clessie' pairing.
1. Chapter 1

Jessie x Cloud  
Operation Fresh Start  
---------------------------

(sound of head hitting keyboard) Why did I agree to this again?

This is set pretty soon after FFVII the game, and includes some lead up info stolen from FFVII-AC the movie. Probably includes spoilers for both, so be warned. The whole premise of this story is a 'what if' scenerio. Let's just say that Jessie did NOT die in the Sector 7 plate crash. That makes her a viable option for Cloud's (and anyone else's, really) affections. Between seeing so few stories with Jessie (they kinda have to be pre-game or AU) or the other Avalanche members, and being so sick and tired of the old Aerith or Tifa choice for Cloud, me and some freinds decided that Jessie would have been perfect had she lived. No fake memories, no promises, no preconcieved notions, and best of all - no guilt! They could each have a Fresh Start on life.

This isn't to say that I'm against CloTi or Cleris... or even that 'Clessie' (as it's been dubbed) is even something I feel strongly about. I just want to see more options for that poor boy. With that - here's the first section. I'm not sure how the chapters will work out on this, since it seems to be running to long winded-ness... but hey. Enjoy?

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Chapter 1 - Beginnings  
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The bar was a lot better looking this time.

That was the first thing Jessie noticed as her ride pulled up outside the scruffy building. She got out and thanked the driver, and limped slowly over to the front doors.

Well, it was now or never. Time to go let her freinds and the saviors of her world know she was ok. Mostly.

Jessie paused a moment, palm on the front door. Shee could see Tifa at the bar through the glass. No matter how much things change, there are always some that stay the same.

After pushing the door open and stepping timidly inside, Jessie was unsure of what to do. Go up to the bar and order a drink like this was the old Sector 7 base...? Throw herself at Tifa for a big hug? Stand there like the stranger she felt like now? sigh

Jessie limped forward, up to the bar. Leaping anywhere was out of the question for a while. Her knee wouldn't allow it. Some things even the best Restore materia couldn't heal. A crushed kneecap was one of them. The doctors had done the best they could. Surgury to remove the bone fragments, pins and plates and all sorts of things... but it would never be the same. Really, she should have taken them up on the offer of the replacement knee. It's not like she didn't know other people with mechanical body parts...

Thinking on that, Jessie wondered briefly where Barret was, as Tifa looked up to smile at her new customer.

"Welcome to 7th Heaven! Best drinks in E- OH! ... Jess...ie?" Her face was a study. Transformed from the freindly propreiter to shock and elated puzzlement. A little reserved, like she wasn't yet sure this was true.  
"Jessie, is that really you?" Hope leapt into Tifa's warm brown eyes as she put down her bartowel and stepped around to hug her old freind.  
"We thought you... But... What about the others?" Tifa tilted her head, eyes large with worry and hope mingled. She meant Biggs and Wedge, of course.

Jessie just shook her head, expressionless. She'd learned fast how to hide her feelings, in the last few months. When she was first discovered in the wreckage, Avalanche was still considered the enemy. She hadn't fared well at first. But, no point in telling Tifa that. What she didn't know, she wouldn't ask prying questions about.

Her eyes closed in pain for a moment, and then she bolstered up the rest of her spirits to answer without crying again.

"No. Not many ... from the Sector made it at all. I shouldn't have. I don't know why I did. I really don't deserve to be alive and as whole as I am. Not after..."  
Her voice broke, and she choked back the tears that she refused to let out. Not now.

Tifa started shaking her head.  
"No. Oh, no no. You DO deserv-" She was cut off, mid earnest rebuke. Jessie ran right over her with her vhemenant denial.

"Don't! Tifa, don't say that. You don't know... you weren't there afterwards. I've seen what's left of the 'survivors'. The entire plate, Tifa. All the people on top AS WELL as the poor people below. There wasn't much of a rescue effort, because there wasn't enough left of anyone to resque. Out of an entire Sector, the survivors didn't fill one hospital. And some of them died anyway. Most of who are still alive are crippled for life. ShinRa is paying for the medical costs, but you can't give a person back their family, or their homes, their life. Don't tell me I deserve to be one of the few people to make it out all right. Entire families, Tifa! Babies! I saw crushed remains of babies paraded past me in the temporary infirmery. It was my fault. I could have done something about that bomb... hacked it, defused it, something! I know I could have. But I didn't. No amount of 'rebuilding' on my part is going to make me 'deserve' to live any more than anyone else. Just... don't. I'm here, and... I'm going to try to start over, live again. But, I'll be doing it with the images of those people in my head, reproaching me for the rest of my life. Let's just... try to do better this time, okay?"

Jessie's anguished diatribe shocked Tifa into silence. She'd never seen Jessie without a smile. A cheerful determination to do her best. Almost gleeful when it came to seemingly impossible challenges. This Jessie... she seemed tired, and bitter, and ready to give up. That just wasn't right. No matter how bad things had been, if she gave up now it would just make them worse. But how to convince her of that. Tifa pondered Jessie in silence for a moment. There wasn't likely to be any way to change her mind on such a traumatic experience. This obviously wasn't the whole story, not the way she'd clamped her mouth shut and refused to make eye contact.

One step at at time then.

"Cloud should be back soon, he's out fetching ingredients for me. And Barret is in Junon, seeing a doctor about his arm." Tifa tilted her head and smiled charminly at Jessie. Trying to lure her into normal conversation, maybe even asking questions.

Jessie smiled back wryly. She knew what was going on. But better to change the subject than keep thinking about... that.

"His arm?" Jessie asked obligingly, "Is there something wrong with his arm, or is he getting that upgrade he talked about off and on?" She ignored her flash of interest at hearing Cloud's name. Why would he remember her, anyway?

Tifa leaned back against her well cleaned bar and smiled knowingly. "Barret has decided to try getting something a little more like a hand this time. You should see him walking Marlene to school in the mornings. It's adorable."

Both women looked at each other and smiled. Barret was wound around that little girls finger like a ribbon. Such a tough guy. Such a softie for his little girl.

"So..." Jessie took a look around the bar, noting the bare walls and scavenged seating. "Cloud is out getting 'ingredients' for you? You must be working hard to keep this the best bar in the area." Jessie looked back shyly at Tifa. With a small self depreciating smile, she offered "Do you want me to pitch in? I'm sure there's got to be something I could do to help."

Tifa winked and slid back around the bar.  
"I'm sure we can find something. So! What would you like to drink? I think I've got everything on hand for your favorite..." Tifa smiled warmly at her old freind, and started deftly whisking out drink componants.

Jessie smiled and shook her head in amazement. "Sure, why not. Just one though, I'm still on medications."

She watched with interest as her drink was magically produced from the assortment of flasks and bottles, and stirred to a swirl of perfection. Jessie couldn't help but to laugh as Tifa mockingly floated a little red fruit on top, like she always did for Marlene.

"There you go! Enjoy!" Tifa slid the glass over, and just as efficiently started putting everything back in it's place.

Jessie took a sip and smiled. "Perfect, as usual TIfa." She shook her head again and took another sip. Tifa was a wonder. How she could manage to stay so unchanged, even after everything...  
Jessie's eyes darkened and her smile drooped. She quickly hunched over her glass to try and hide it, and turned to look around the big room again.

Tifa watched Jessie out of the corner of her eye, and just went about her business. There was alwyas something to do in a bar. Glasses to wipe spotless, things to clean, the phone to answer...  
And a good bartender always knows when to leave a patron alone. Jessie obviously needed some time.

A few moments later, and something occurred to Jessie. "Hey, Tifa... Where is everybody? I mean, your customers? I'd think this place would be crowded this time of day." It was late afternoon, and if nothing else, the early drinkers should have been filling empty seats in the back.

Jessie lifted a brow at Tifa, and glanced around again at the empty bar.

Tifa nodded, and set her current glass back on its shelf.  
"Usually, yeah. But commerce is pretty slow still out here. Not that many people have the extra to spend yet. And for the past week, most anyone who can is out helping put up the monument in the central square. Things will pick up this evening, and next week. You'll see." Tifa nodded encouragingly at Jessie, and whisked the empty glass away.

"You want a sandwich? You look like you haven't had much appatite lately. I've got some chips even, if you'd like." Tifa turned away and started getting sandwich stuff out without even waiting for Jessie's response.

Jessie sighed at Tifa's sharp assesment. Not 'you look like you haven't been getting enough to eat' but 'you look like you haven't had much appatite'. There was quite a difference. Who could eat, with visions of crushed babies floating behind their eyes? Jessie just closed her eyes and tried not to cry. The sound of a plate being slid in front of her made her look up.

Tifa stood there, careful not to look too concerned, but obviously caring. "Eat. You'll feel better."  
She smiled again, and bustled off to take care of things. Distantly, Jessie heard a phone ring. Tifa moved off to answer it, spoke briefly and came back to lean on the counter nearby. Close, but not too close.

"That was Cloud. He'll be here in a few hours. He's got a good deal on the starfruit I asked for." Tifa tilted her head and smiled in amusement. Cloud hadn't even known what a starfruit was until she'd shown him one. Clueless didn't even begin to describe him when it came to what was needed for a popular bar and restaraunt.

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(and this is where I ran out of steam the other night. I'll just pick up the next 'chapter' where I left of here. I might streamline it later... but meh.)


	2. PO! TA! TOES!

Several hours later, Jessie found herself playing waitress to the assorted folks who wandered in after their shift in reconstructing a home. Generally, they were tired, but smug. Chattering quietly between themselves. No one paid any attention to her limp. Too many of them shared injuries from the recent catastrophies to want to draw attention to hers.

It was, however, the most subdued bar atmosphere Jessie had ever seen. And half living at Tifa's old bar - she thought she'd seen every kind of bar crowd out there.

The door tinkled in the background, as Jessie's weak knee finally gave out. She was on her way back to the kitchen with a loaded tray of dirty dishes. It went flying as her leg buckled under her, forcing her to grab at anything nearby to keep her from landing under the tables. She KNEW what kind of stuff was under there... Even in a bar as clean as Tifa's.

Arms windmilling, trying to grasp the nearest table - which was juuust out of reach - Jessie closed her eyes in dismay as the floor tilted closer. Her descent was stopped by a wall of black and blue. Firm hands lifted her up, and supported her. It was embarrassing to have to lean on a stranger, but it was surely better than the floor.

Jessie looked up to thank her rescuer, only to widen her eyes in shock at the sight of Cloud looking back at her, faintly perplexed. Her cheeks flushed immediately, and she slid her eyes aside, stammering out her thanks as she tried to disentangle herself from his helpful hands. All she succeeded in doing was unbalancing herself again. As distracted as she was, she'd tried putting weight on her knee again, and damn near toppled over.

Cloud shook his head and simply picked her up. He carried her over to the stools in front of the bar and gently set her down again. He was watching her intently, frowning slightly.

"Oh! You didn't have to..." Jessie flushed even deeper, humiliated that her old crush had been the one to see her like this.

_Dammit... I'm such a clutz! Why can't I be as together as Tifa..._

Cloud tilted his head at her voice, eyes far away for a moment.

"You seem familiar... Have we met before?" He scratched his head in puzzlement, knitting his light eyebrows slightly.

_Ah, he's so cute when he does that... Oh! Wait.. He asked me a question... Shit... What was it again? Oh._

She sighed, trying to keep the pain from showing.

"Yeah. I was in Avalanche. I'm Jessie, the one who built the bomb you set in Sector 8's Reactor?" She closed her eyes, unwilling to see the pity that would surely come.

"Hey! Yeah, I remember! You're the cute computer tech. Heh. So you made it out ok after all, huh? Good for you." Cloud's voice was warm, as with those recounting a fond memory. It wasn't quite what she'd expected... He'd been so distant before. Not really wanting to be part of the group.

_Well, he WAS just a hired mercenery at that point..._

She opened her eyes and gaped at him slightly. The flush that had faded a bit came back, dusting her cheeks with pink.

_Wait! He said I was cute! OMG! - Oh, get a hold of yourself, Jess. He surely didn't mean anything by it. Lots of girls are 'cute'. And that was then anyway. Now you're just a wreck._

She cleared her throat and shook her head a bit to clear it of her distracting thoughts.

"Uh, yeah. I -" She started to speak, and then jerked in surprise as a loud voice spoke sharply from over her shoulder.

"Cloud! There you are! I thought you said you'd be here 'in a few hours' not 'later this evening'. Did you get the potatoes? I can't start tomorrow's Soup of the Day without them... Oh, well I suppose I could find something else but... Cloud? Cloud! Are you even listening to me?"

Tifa stood behind the bar, hands on hips glaring at Cloud. Who was completely lost in thought. Tifa rolled her eyes and marched around the bar to stand in front of Cloud.

"Hey! Earth to Spikey Hero! You're needed to save my soup! You heeeere?"  
Tifa's attempt at levity was ignored, as Cloud frowned to himself. Whatever he was thinking of, it was taking all his attention. And pissing Tifa off.

Several customers caught sight of the impending volcano and took their drinks to a farther location in the bar. One man who had just gotten up to order something sat right back down and picked up a newspaper from an adjascent table. Nothing to see here... No siree. Not if you wanted to keep coming here, that was for sure.

Jessie was completely shocked when Tifa pulled back and punched Cloud. It was a good solid hit, and it rocked him on his seat so badly that he almost went backwards over the bar behind him.

Cloud sat back up and rubbed his jaw, staring in astonishment at Tifa.

"What the heck was THAT for!" Incredulous, his wide blue eyes regarded Tifa as one would an angry Chocobo about to charge.

"The potatoes, Cloud. Did you get them?" Tifa narrowed her eyes in impatient anger.

He had the bad luck to look confused, and Tifa's eyes flashed dangerously.

"OH! Right. Potatoes. Yeah, they're in the kitchen already, jeez. And some carrots and stuff. The farmer threw in a bunch of weird stuff. I dunno."

He eyed her cautiously, hoping he was off the hook for a while. Traipsing across the countryside in hot pursuit of vegetables was kind of a letdown after saving the world.

Jessie sat there in shock, not sure whether to intervene, or sit still and hope to go unnoticed.

Tifa shook her head in disgust and stalked off to the kitchen, to investigate Cloud's findings. Half the bar could hear her angry mutters.  
"...better be enough...certainly took your time... Not paying for..."

Cloud shrugged and turned back to the girl - no, woman - he'd caught earlier. Jessie.

"So. What brings you to town?" He settled back on the stool, elbows propped behind him on the bar. The picture of confidant relaxation.

Jessie unshrank a bit from her shock, and tried to think of an answer.

"I, ah. Thought it was past time to let my freinds know I was still alive. The kicking part I'm having problems with though." Jessie grimaced and rubbed her shot knee.

_Dammit, I'm going to have to take those ShinRa bastards up on that surgery after all._


	3. Ambush and fear

Surrounded. It had been an ambush.

Jessie tensed up, and got ready to fight. Not that she had much of a chance with her knee refusing to heal. It was just torn up past using. No chance to use her TaeKwonDo skills to take down her opponants and let her escape.

She glowered at the gathered forces against her, feeling trapped and scared. And angry. Oh, yes. Angry. How dare they think to take her by force like this. HER.

"Oh, come on Jess. You've got to get that knee taken care of. And it IS free." Tifa slid her foot closer, and stopped as Jessie looked ready to bolt. Even if it meant darting between that scary Vincent character and that loud Cid. Well, maybe not darting. But she would definately use her wooden crutch against anyone who thought they were getting her in that truck.

Tifa sighed and rolled her eyes. This had been an ongoing argument for the past week. Ever since she'd found out about ShinRa Corps offer to replace Jessie's knee free of charge, for treating her so badly durring the recent crisis. As an Avalanche member, Jessie had been thrown in a jail infirmiry after being rescued from the rubble of the collapsed plate. It had been a dank, dirty place, with poor excuses for medical staff. That treatment was the main reason why Jessie's crushed leg and knee had never healed right. Had someone used a Restore spell on her fresh from the rescue, she might have gotten by with simply a slight limp for the rest of her life. But badly bound, it had half healed incorrectly, bone shards solidifying in bad places, and weak to new damage.

But Jessie naturally held a grudge against ShinRa. Not only were they despoilers of the Planet, and ruthless murderers... They'd personally seen to her discomfort durring the early stages of the Meteor thread. Oh, they'd tried to 'make it up to her' once the rest of Avalanche became the world's Hero's. But that just made her even more angry. She wasn't about to be bought off.

Cloud shuffled, uncomfortable about this whole thing. But he'd agreed with Tifa that this needed to be done and over with. Jessie couldn't go on with a leg that didn't work.

"Hey Jessie - you know Tifa's right. We all want to see you patched up and on both your feet again..." He stumbled to a stop as she leveled a potent glare his way.

A perky voice overrode the bass grumbles coming from Barret, who was also rather uncomfortable with this situation. He knew exactly how Jessie felt about ShinRa. He didn't blame her... But... Not ALL of ShinRa was bad. And most of the old executive staff in charge of the old deprivations were dead now anyway. Things were chainging. Time to move on.

"Yeah-yeah! And you can beat us all up when this is all over, promise! Start with Tifa and Cloud there, k?" Yuffie bounced in place, waving her arms enthusiastically to punctuate her statement.

Jessie snorted.  
_Right, start with someone else so YOU have time to sneak off. Sure._

She eyed the circle of 'friends' warily, looking for anyone who might be slightly sympathetic.

Cloud... No. He was unhappy to be doing this, but the determination shone behind his glowing eyes. Tifa - hell no. She was the one to start this. Barret... Not this time - and his betrayal of the cause stung. He'd deliberately left Marlene behind so she wasn't going to get any help there. That Cid person? Jessie eyed him speculatively and he eyed her back, a burning cig hanging from his lips limply. He suddenly grinned and swung his big spear up over his shoulder, at the ready. Nope, no help there. She had a feeling this guy thought this was one big lark. The little 'ninja' then?  
Yuffie was almost dancing in place, mischief oozing from her. Hm. If she could convince the girl that it would be more 'fun' to ruin Tifa's plan...

Just then, Tifa leaned over and whispered into Yuffie's ear. Who promptly put her hands her her mouth and tried badly to muffle her giggles. Wait - was Yuffie bblushing/b Yuffie's eyes slid from Jessie to the man in red and back again. What on earth were they planning?

Jessie looked at the last member of her ambush party. The silent and spooky man in red, Vincen. He gave her the creeps. She'd been told he was once a Turk, and she believed it. Definately not to be trusted, no matter WHAT Tifa and Cloud said. He just stood there, unnaturaly still save for the gentle movement of his cloak in the breeze. There was no telling what was going on behind those shadowed eyes.

The group had cornered her just outside of Tifa's bar this morning. Hell bent on getting her to an appointment to get her knee replaced. Just what she needed. Some peice of ShinRa machinery permenantly attached to her body.

Tifa looked up, triumph on her face. Jessie narrowed her eyes at her freind. It was a little early for triumph, wasn't it?

She tensed up even further, and grasped the handhold on her crutch just a little more, shifting her weight further to her good leg. All the better to take that first step toward freedom, or If she needed to bash someone with her crutch.

Yuffie broke down and started giggling loudly, wild snorts of laughter interspersed. Whatever Tifa had in mind was obviously going to be humiliating. Fine. She'd be sorry.

Jessie saw Tifa move out of the corner of her eye, and decided that was it. Time to make her break for freedom. Not that she could outrun them like this, but dammit - she wasn't going down without a fight. They just didn't understand her feelings on this.

She swung her crutch and bad leg at the hip forward as far as she could, and immideately shoved off to land on her good leg. She'd decided to avoid Cid, and go for the slight gap between Cloud and Vincent.

Behind her, Tifa yelled "NOW!"

Ha, it was too late. Jessie was already between the two fighters, and making her way beyond.

Cloud stared at her in consternation, but made no move to stop her. He seemed unsure as to what he was supposed to do. Good, the longer he dithered, the farther away she'd be.

Jessie had totally dismissed the statue of a man in red from her mind. So it came as a surprise when a mere breath after Tifa yelled, a flash of red obscured Jessie's vision. She yelped in shock as she was lifted entirely off the ground. Her crutch clattered to the pavement.

It was a brilliant move. In one swish of cloak, Jessie's arms had been pinned to her sides as she was swooped down upon and held captive. It effectively prevented her from fighting back, with her arms wrapped in cloak, and her good leg held close to the human statue by one golden claw. She glared up at her captor, glaring harder when she saw he wasn't even paying attention. Vincent was starting at Tifa, wating for his next instruction.

From nearby, a weak - "H-hey!" escaped Cloud, as he tried to figure out whether to protest this action or help out.

Cid smirked and ground out the end of his cig, lighting a new one as he clambered into the back of the truck after Vincent and his wriggling burden.  
Cloud shrugged and climbed in as well.

Barret and Tifa immediately made for the cab of the truck, and Yuffie pouted, torn between the indignity of riding along and being sick - or missing out on the fun. She brightened up, and patted Tifa' arm through the open passenger window.

"Hey, Tif! I'll see you there, k? You guys go on ahead." The young 'ninja' smiled smugly and turned on her heel, to trot off. She was lost to sight in moments, darting between buildings and hugging the available shadows.

Tifa shook her head at Yuffie's back, smiling fondly. She turned in her seat to look out the back window at the truckbed.

"Everything all right back there?" She called out to the assorted fighters holding down Jessie. They all looked up and nodded, various states of determination on their faces.

"All right, Barret! Let's get this show on the road!" With a small regretful sigh, Tifa settled back into her seat as the beat up truck rumbled to life and pulled away from the curb outside her bar.

Seven blocks and three turns later, they were at the small and modest looking clinic. There was nothing about the place that suggested "ShinRa" on the outside. In fact, most of the staff here wasn't even associated with the shattered wreck of a company. But that didn't change the fact that the knee surgury scheduled for today was being PAID for by ShinRa. A fact that left a bad taste in Jessie's mouth.

She considered attempting another run for freedom as she was handed out of the back of the truck from Vincent's care to Cloud's. But the immediate flanking on all sides from her entire 'escort' made her give in sullenly.

They had all agreed that it was best if she was just carried into the clinic. It avoided escape attempts, and overrode the need for the crutch that had been left behind. It was obvious Jess wasn't going to walk in there under her own power, anyway.

Barret leaned over and spoke to her, as she pouted in Cloud's arms.  
"Hey, girl. You'll be ok. I turned out all right, and **I** had to pay for mine!"  
He waved his gun arm in emphasis, and cleared his throat. It looked like he was trying in his own way to convince Jessie that this was the right thing to do.

"Besides, even if it ain't helpin' the Planet, ShinRa still OWES us. Might as well take advantage of their money to get the best work done. No one says you gotta feel GRATEFUL after all... We're still AVALANCHE, after all..."

Jessie was impressed. That time he'd been spending with that Elmyra character had calmed him down some. He'd made a small speech with absolutely no curse words. Either it was a miracle, or the end of the world after all. Well, that tore it. Might as well give in as gracefully as possible.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's just get this over with already." Her sullen words were spit out between clenched teeth, and she folded her arms defiantly as Cloud took his cue and moved forward. He carried her carefully, like she was going to break (or explode) any moment. It might have made her smile, or even blush, at another time. Right now it was just one more thing to irritate her.

"Cloud, step it up. Jeez. I'm not going to break." She frowned at him, and for a moment time seemed to stop as she met his eyes. They were so... Blue.

Cid stalked past, snickering to himself. He paused by the front door, and opened it with an overly dramatic flourish for Cloud, including a 'courtly' bow as they passed him. Vincent shook his head and followed them in.

Once inside, Tifa ran up to the receptionist's window, and let the Nurses know that their reluctant patient was finally here.

Cloud looked around the room, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do next. Cid, Vincent, and Barret all chose spots around the waiting room to sit and... Wait.

Barret reached over to the little table beside his chair and rummaged through the pile of magazines there. He grunted in disgust at the titles.

"Damn girly mags. Where the hell do they keep the... HA. 'Weapons Digest'. That'll do."

With that, Barret plopped the magazine in his lap and started thumbing through it slowly. He seemed to find many of the articles amusing. A shadow fell over his shoulder, and Barret turned his head to glare at the intruder... But-

"Oh. Vincent, wouldja quit looming. Here sit yo scrawny butt down and I'll share."

Soon the gun bunnies were shaking their heads together over the contents of this magazine.

Meanwhile, Tifa had found some magazine on wedding dresses and was slouched over in a seat near the front door. Just in case Jessie made it that far.

Cloud sighed, and carefully carried his fidgeting armful over to the connected seats.

"If I set you down, will you promise not to run off?" He looked down at the grumpy gimp In his arms with some trepidation. It was a valid question, even if most women wouldn't try escaping from a doctors office when they couldn't walk on their own. Jessie wasn't most women.

She looked up and met his eyes briefly, scowl slipping slightly as she shifted her eyes to the side. She bit her lip and looked down.  
"Nah, I won't run now. I don't like this. And I won't like it. But... I don't want to end up getting both knees replaced, so I'd better just let Tifa have her way."

Jessie smiled crookedly, and sighed.

_It's not like I don't WANT my knee better. I just... Don't want it at the expense of my integrity. But Barret is right. I don't have to owe ShinRa anything for this. If they want to spend their money on me as an 'apology'... Well fine._

Cloud settled Jessie down into a chair, and perched in the seat next to her. It wasn't that he didn't take her at her word... It was just... Well. He didn't know what it was.

Minutes of boredom later, the side door opened and a woman in a labcoat came out with her clipboard.  
"This way please. The doctor is ready."

Everyone stood, and Cloud helped Jessie to her good foot. He thought she might want to at least appear to be walking in there on her own.

The nurse frowned. She looked down at the clipboard, and back up to the waiting crowd.  
"I'm afraid I'll have all people not involved in the surgury to wait out here."

Jessie's eyes widened as her group of friends shuffled their feet, looked at each other, and sat back down. Except Cloud, who was still keeping her standing. Fear struck her. It was irrational, and she knew it... But... There was no telling what would REALLY go on in there if no one was there to stop them while she was under anesthetic. Jessie clutched Cloud's arm tightly, and looked around the room at her friends. Tifa smiled encouragingly and made little shooing motions. Barret just frowned and nodded, tapping his gun arm. Yuffie hadn't shown up. And, where did Vincent go? Oh.

There was a looming presense next to her, and even Cloud jumped when Vincent spoke.

"One of us will be accompanying her, and stay with her throughout the procedure." Vincent's implacible stare and tone made it obvious that there would be no arguments. This was simply the way things were going to be.

The nurse lowered her eyes and glared at her clipboard. Sighed heavily.  
"Fine. But only one companion. This way please."

With that, the nurse turned and went through the door behind her, and hovered in the hallway beyond. She was obviously impatient and irritated at this group of random people messing up her perfectly ordered day.

Vincent glanced down at Jessie, she could swear he almost smiled. He nodded and looked down sligtly, moving his metal encased arm just enough to draw her attention to it. Her eyes widened and he nodded slightly again. He understood her fear.

From the hallway, the nurse cleared her throat loudly. Jessie jumped guiltily. Cloud sighed and rolled his eyes.

Time to go.


End file.
